May 3, 2017
Dear fellow CMG members,
At the end of March, I wrote to you about an upcoming national gathering of our union.
The meeting at the end of this week in Montreal will connect our union Local, the Canadian Media Guild, with our fellow CWA union Locals in Canada.
CWA Canada is a national umbrella organization within the Communications Workers of America, the wider international union of which our union Local, the Canadian Media Guild, is a part.
This is an opportunity to share information and to strategize on matters of mutual concern.
Our union Local, the Canadian Media Guild, represents over 5000 members, including employees at the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation/Société Radio-Canada, The Canadian Press and Pagemasters North America, Thomson Reuters, the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network, TVO, TFO, Corus, VICE, ZoomerMedia, AFP and in private radio, as well as freelancers.
Likewise, our fellow CWA Locals in Canada represent a further 1000 members at media organizations such as the Lethbridge Herald, Medicine Hat News, Red Deer Advocate, Victoria Times-Colonist, Halifax Chronicle Herald, Kingston Whig-Standard, Montreal Gazette, Saint John Telegraph-Journal, North Bay Nugget, Sudbury Star, CTV Ottawa, Ottawa Citizen, Ottawa Sun, Peterborough Examiner, Regina Leader-Post, Sault Star, Cape Breton Post, Cowichan Valley Citizen, and Windsor Star.
We share a belief that a quality media system in Canada is built on healthy organizations that treat workers fairly.
CWA Canada’s National Representative Council is the supreme decision-making body of CWA Canada and this is the body that CMG delegates will join, later this week, on Friday, May 5 and Saturday, May 6.
CWA Canada’s constitution and bylaws set out the means by which delegates to the National Representative Council may be selected.
CMG is sending a mixed delegation, selected from among applicants that came forward as a result of an open call to CMG’s membership and from among members of CMG’s national executive.
Some members originally named as delegates are unavailable to attend, therefore some members who were designated as alternate delegates will be taking their place.
In the end, this is the group of delegates that the Canadian Media Guild will be sending to Montreal to represent our union Local at the CWA Canada National Representative Council:
Kamala Rao – President
Jordanna Lake – Vice President
Mary Jo Laforest – Canadian Press Branch, Vice-President
Jonathan Spence – CBC Branch, President
Gaynette Spafford – CBC Branch, Secretary-Treasurer
Don Genova – Freelance Branch, President
David Croft – CBC, Whitehorse
Maggie McCaw – VICE, Toronto
Harry Mesh – CBC, Gander-Grand Falls
Andrew Parker – CBC, Toronto
Naomi Robinson – CBC, Toronto
Shaneen Robinson-Desjarlais – APTN
Bob Sharpe – CBC, St. John’s
Kim Trynacity – CBC, Edmonton
One more note —-
This is an election year at CWA Canada, for positions on the CWA Canada executive
The CWA Canada Executive is an 11-member body that oversees the affairs of CWA Canada and allocates financial resources as needed to ensure Locals and members are served. To carry out its work, the Executive Committee meets at least twice a year in person, and by telephone conference calls as needed.
Eight positions are open this year – each for three year terms: Treasurer (must reside in or near Ottawa), Secretary, and six Officers-at-large.
At least two of the Officers-at-large must come from locals that once belonged to the ITU/Print Sector (non-CMG locals), and at least one Officer-at-large must come from an equity-seeking group.
As members of CWA Canada, any Canadian Media Guild member in good standing is eligible to run for office – attendance at the National Representative Council (NRC) meeting is not a requirement.
If necessary, an election will be held for these positions at the NRC meeting in Montreal on Saturday, May 6, 2017.
This is not an election year for the positions of CWA Canada President and Vice-President. These two positions are elected for four-year terms according to the terms of the CWA Constitution, and that election is by vote of the general membership of CWA Canada. The next scheduled elections for these two positions are in 2019.
As well, this is not an election year for the position of Canadian Vice-President of The NewsGuild-CWA, which also sits on the CWA Canada executive. That position is elected for a term of four years according to procedures set out in the The NewsGuild-CWA Constitution.
You can find out more about the role of the CWA Canada National Executive by referencing the CWA Canada constitution and bylaws.
Please email nominations for the open positions to the CWA Canada national office [email protected] by 12 p.m. ET on Friday, May 5.
You may download a nomination form here. The nomination form must be signed by the nominee, a nominator and a seconder.
Nominations may also be made at the NRC meeting if the nominee is present.
If you have a strong interest in Canada’s media industry and want to be part of our union’s governance structure in order to build our power as media workers and address complex developments that affect our working conditions, please consider putting your name forward.
With thanks, in solidarity,
Kamala Rao
President
Canadian Media Guild
Email – kam (at) cmg.ca
www.cmg.ca
https://www.facebook.com/cmglaguilde/